Measure of a Man: Passing of a Titan
by Moviemuncher
Summary: Rocky has done so much, fought too much to be healthy, but what are his thoughts? What are his feelings on losing so much? "Nature's smarter than we think." Warning: Character Death. T because of this.


Measure of a Man: The Passing of a Titan.

Rocky lay on his bed, seventy-eight years of age, forty-eight years after his title shot, and eighteen after his last fight. And he felt tired, so bone weary and mind shot. Paulie was gone too now, nine years ago. Adrian had been gone for twenty four years ago, just last month.

He rested his old, wiry frame, so weak but once so strong. He still trained, still felt the need too. But it was lighter, almost too light in his mind's eye. But not to his body. To his rusty joints that, oh so long ago, could move with lightning speed.

He felt as brittle as his old man Mickey had looked. That's right, old man Mickey, the best parental figure Rocky ever had. The bitter old man had been his rock during training. His nerves of steel derived from the hard Mickey. His willingness to go out there, to get beat, to get so tired his body ached from the sheer effort of staying awake, came from his love and desire to please Mickey. To make Mickey as proud of him as Rocky was proud of himself.

Rocky sighed, a long, slow breath. The sound rattling through his battered lungs.

Mickey had said once; "Nature is smarter than you think, little by little we lose our friends, we lose everything, we keep losing and losing until we say y'know, what the hell am I living around here for? I got no reason to go on..."

He'd told Rocky, that he, the Italian Stallion, was the only reason he was alive.

But Rocky agreed with Mickey. Little by little you did lose everything. The only thing Rocky had left was his son.

And Mickey also told him, in that same speech, that "I will watch you make good, and I'll never leave ya' until that happens. 'Cause when I leave ya', you'll not only be able to fight, you'll be able to take care of yourself outside of the ring too, is that okay?" And it had been, when Mickey left Rocky had grieved and yelled for Mickey to not leave, to stay but it had been okay. 'Cause could look after himself, he could care for himself.

And Rocky had already done that for Robert. He'd guided him and coached him to be a better person, to go out and get what he was worth. The kid had it; he had a good job and was successful, he had a wife and money. He was all good.

He'd helped Steps, and Marie. Rocky had given Little Marie a permanent job at Adrian's, Steps was no longer at a loss with what to do. He too had got a part time job at Adrian's a while ago. Now he had a proper job doing God knows what but still, he'd earned the money to get a proper college education by himself. And Steps had embraced it. He'd helped them.

So Rocky wondered, he wondered when his time would pass.

He'd paid his dues; it was time he got his reward. He wanted to see his family again.

This weary old fighter, so strong, so full of memories and still fighting day after day to help others, wanted to go home. Home is where the heart is, and Adrian still had his.

So when Rocky closed his eyes, drifted off to sleep, permanent sleep, he mumbled just before:

"Get up ya' son of a bitch, 'cause Mickey loves ya'"

And his thoughts were full of love for his family.

A/N: I have a lump in my throat, honestly I do. And my writing isn't good enough to portray how sad this image is; in my head it seems more powerful. But it's the best I got, and I'm going to put it out there because I deserve an honest opinion for some honest writing. I don't ever want to see the Legend die, but I had to write this. Mainly out of curiosity, what would Rocky's final words and thoughts be? I chose the last words because; well it just had to be. I picture it as Mickey telling Rocky to get on up to heaven, with his family. Named after Elton John's Measure of a Man from Rocky 5. Passing of a Titan was actually a warning to those who didn't want to read about his deaths, along with the Summary.


End file.
